Former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye spoke with KQED’s Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos in a wide-ranging interview. Topics included her service on the Supreme Court and her post-court decision to do some work for an alternative dispute resolution firm.
She also talked about U.S. Supreme Court ethics issues — the lavish gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas and the leak of a draft of the Dobbs opinion. She said that, although she’s seen no evidence that the gifts to Thomas have affected his judgments, she does “worry about the public trust and confidence in the judiciary” and she hopes the high court justices will take a leadership role in ethics standards — they nead to “teach it, train it, and follow it.” Cantil-Sakauye said that the leak of a draft opinion was “incredibly destructive to the trust that the justices and their staff enjoy with each other” that it “stiffles communication and the free exchange of ideas.”
Asked about reparations, the former Chief Justice said that California needs to decide “what kind of programs could be put in place that might address the historical racism and treatment of black people.”
